Wednesday, March 7, 2012


Now Playing: The Witch of Cooper, Arizona
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Episode Three of The Witch of Cooper, Arizona

Episode Two concluded with:
  Two other men who had been searching for Vicki entered the saloon but said nothing. Outside the Golden Nugget, Judy Martin peered over the bat wing doors at the drama going on inside. Her face reflected tension and concern. 
            David Martin was as transfixed as everyone else in the saloon. The expression on Vicki’s face became intense and glowering. The young woman didn’t close her eyes and yet she seemed to be going into some kind of trance.
            Kyle Ryan laughed again but this time his laughter conveyed nervousness and anxiety. Vicki slowly raised her right hand. The hand became a claw which pointed directly at Ryan. Vicki let out a loud hiss, sounding like a cat that had spotted an adversary.
            Ryan screeched in pain, grabbed his right thigh, and collapsed. Sounds of shock and fear exploded around the saloon. People hastily stepped away from Vicki Burke, fearful that she might cast some nightmarish spell on them.

Episode Three

“Stop it, please, stop the hurt,” Ryan’s cries sounded like those of a small boy as he thrashed about on the floor.
            Vicki Burke spoke in a toneless voice. “The pain will stop but you will walk crooked for the rest of your days!” Vicki lowered her hand as her entire body seemed to go limp. She smiled uneasily and looked around the Golden Nugget as if seeing the place for the first time.
            “Uncle Lamar, why are you here?” Vicki’s voice was all that could be heard in the saloon except for the moans of Kyle Ryan as he struggled to get back on his feet.
             Lamar ran to his niece. “Vicki, we need to head home.”
            “Not yet,” Vicki giggled. Her voice sounded childish and playful. “People will want to see my magic box!”
            Reverend Martin was helping Ryan to stand up. Once on his feet, the barfly began to limp around. He leaned against the bar and spoke in a stage whisper. “That girl is a witch, I tell ya.” He looked at Lamar Burke. “Git her out of town and never allow her back!”
            The scene inside the Golden Nugget had been subdued since Ryan issued his challenge to the girl. Raucous noise once again broke out, only now there was no laughter. Angry shouts of “witchcraft” and “demon” filled the saloon. Vicki remained untouched by the ugliness around her. The young woman’s cheerful declarations about a “magic box” were partially lost in the ferocious screams and strident demands that she leave town.
            Lamar Burke put an arm around his niece’s shoulders. “Come on girl, we have to get out of here.”
            David Martin kept close to the Burkes as they left the saloon. A crowd of people followed behind them. Judy Martin joined her husband as they hurried off the boardwalk.
            “What has gotten into these people?!” Judy asked.
            David Martin did not try to answer his wife. He was grateful that the crowd was staying behind them. No one was trying to injure Vicki or her uncle. Not yet.
            Lamar and Vicki were walking toward a buckboard that stood in front of the mercantile across the street and down a few stores. “That’s our wagon,” Lamar Burke shouted above the cries of “Leave!” “Go away!” and “We don’t want no witches here.”
            Vicki once again laughed in a girlish manner. She broke away from her uncle, ran to the buckboard, and did a quick hop to get on board.  The girl reached under the bench and pulled out a black box. Then she stood on the bench and held the object up for all to see. “My magic box!”

Tomorrow: Episode four of The Witch of Cooper, Arizona